


An Alpha For Sherlock

by Leloi



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Omega Verse, Sherlock!Omega
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-19 22:56:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leloi/pseuds/Leloi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sherlock was eight years old his family bought him an Alpha...</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Alpha For Sherlock

**Author's Note:**

> Posted to AFF.Net. Yes, I'm going through my most recent postings there and putting them here.

When Sherlock Holmes was eight years old his parents bought him his future mate. John Hamish Watson was an Alpha and he had been sought out through all the proper matchmaking channels. There were very few Alphas due to their nature and ability to pollinate a large number of Omegas. They could be rented out like stallions and whole stud farms were dedicated to keeping Alphas in reserve for needful Omegas. But Sherlock’s family was a family of means. They would rather own their own Alpha to service their Omega offspring when it came time for their child to breed. He would never want for a mate as many poorer Omegas had to live without or use the Alpha farms.

John was young, only a few years older than Sherlock. He had barely reached the onset of puberty when he had been taken away from his family and sent to live with the Holmes family in their country home. Eventually he would be bonded to Sherlock and forced to change his surname as was custom. Betas could keep with traditional marriage rituals but Omegas and Alphas were different, almost a different species—the next step in the evolutionary chain. Human Betas could no longer breed, being sterile. Omegas were fertile and they could be either gender. All they needed was an Alpha to impregnate them.

Sherlock lingered in the doorway of John’s room, watching the other boy unpack his meager belongings. Finally John took notice that he wasn’t alone and turned to regard his future bondmate. “Hello.”

“You’re a stallion.” Sherlock remarked.

“A what?” John replied, eyeing the younger boy.

“Mycroft told me that Alphas are like stallions… male horses.”

“I am not a horse.” John replied, putting his trousers in a drawer.

“I’ve heard from Mycroft that you’re hung like one. What does that mean?”

John blushed and shook his head. “I’m sure I don’t know. You’re Sherlock?”

“And you’re John Watson. Someday you’ll be John Holmes, my bondmate.”

John pulled something out of his bag and sat down on the bed. “Come here, please.”

Sherlock obeyed, something about John made it easy for the boy to obey. 

John held out a small object. “I have a present for you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a rock… from where I was raised. It’s not much, but I used to climb on boulders much bigger than that made from the same rock.”

Sherlock turned it over in his hand. “It’s metamorphic…”

John smiled at him. “Do you like it?”

Sherlock clutched the rock in his hand. “Yes. Thank you.”

^.~

John was sent to school at the finest university when he finished secondary. All of his schooling had been provided for through the Holmes family. They were his sponsors and he studied diligently to make them proud and worthy of their Omega, Sherlock. As Sherlock’s Alpha it was up to him to provide for the younger man when they both reached adulthood. 

It was around that time that Sherlock began to question his place in the family. “When I’m older what university will I attend?” 

Mycroft frowned at his brother. “You will not be attending university. You are an Omega. You are to stay home and provide progeny for the next generation of the Holmes family.”

“That isn’t fair!” Sherlock yelled. The young boy had grown into a young man. Already he was his brother’s height even though he was only fourteen and still in secondary. “You get to go to uni and John gets to go. Why do I have to stay home with the progeny because I’m an Omega?”

“That is the way of the world. I am a Beta. I will never breed so it doesn’t matter if I attend university. John is to provide for you while you birth his children.”

“Well maybe I don’t want to birth children!” Sherlock snarled.

“Sherlock… that is your role in life.”

John frowned and stepped in between the brothers. “Surely he can attend for a while at least. He won’t have his first heat until he’s in his twenties. There’s time to study.”

Mycroft glared at John. “You stay out of this! The only reason we bought you is because of what is between your legs! Without a rich family sending you to university you would just be a stud on an Alpha farm, providing seed for desperate Omegas in heat!”

John blinked, a hurt look settling over his features. Finally he pulled away and stomped up the stairs to his bedroom to finish packing for school.

“You’re such a stupid arsed Beta! I hate you!” Sherlock yelled, shoving Mycroft aside as he followed John up the stairs. The young man found John in his room, sitting on the bed, head on his knees.

“I’m more than what is between my legs!” John cried, his voice low and rough from his tears.

Sherlock climbed onto the bed and leaned against his destined Alpha. “Mycroft is just being an arsehole. He’s jealous.”

“Of what?” John demanded, looking at his Omega.

“The Holmes family wealth passes to the next viable generation. And he’s sterile.”

“I don’t care about the wealth. I just want to be treated like… a human being. We may be the only hope for humanity but we’re still human… not livestock to breed.”

Sherlock rested his head on John’s shoulder. “I know you’re human.”

Absently John patted Sherlock’s hair. Eventually they fell asleep together. The next morning when they woke the sheets were soaked. 

“Did you wet the bed?” Sherlock asked, but the scent was wrong.

John frowned and then pulled away, startled. “My first night emissions!” 

Soon the whole household knew of John’s nocturnal emissions. It was a time of celebration for Alphas, tangible proof that they were able to inseminate and create life. Due to the copious amounts involved their first emissions came later than traditional humans before the evolutionary change. It wasn’t uncommon for an Alpha male or female to experience their first at eighteen or nineteen years. Some came as early as seventeen. John was a few months past his eighteenth year. It was at this point that an Alpha would be sent to an Alpha farm to begin their life as a stud but John was bought for private use. With first emissions also came the subsequent sperm count.

“John Hamish Watson is a 4.3!” Mr. Holmes announced at the dinner table the next evening. John blushed at hearing his Alpha scale number announced so casually between the salad and main course. 

“4.3? Out of 5? That is…” Mrs. Holmes trailed off, looking at her son’s Alpha. “That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Most of those Alphas on the farms are a 2 at most… No wonder so many Betas are born from those unions. But a 4.3… Just about all of their offspring will be viable!” Mr. Holmes grinned at his investment. “Our family line is assured and all it took was a little research.” Pleased with his research, Mr. Holmes happily chewed, gesticulating with his fork to make points. “So… John… I’m happy with you. Do you want anything? Anything at all? Now’s the time to ask.”

John glanced at Sherlock who picked at his food almost listlessly and then to Mycroft. “There is something, Mr. Holmes…” John stated, wiping his mouth with his napkin.

“Anything!” The older Alpha replied, smiling fondly at his future son in law.

“I want Sherlock to continue school for as long as he can.” John replied, keeping eye contact with Sherlock’s father.

“What? You can’t! Father… that’s ludicrous! Omegas can’t…” Mycroft began.

“Silence, Mycroft. I said I would grant anything.” Mr. Holmes nodded. “If that’s what John wants… he’ll have it. Sherlock can continue until he begins his cycles. After that… I would be concerned about unbonded Alphas he comes into contact with at the university.”

“Suddenly I’ve lost my appetite… excuse me!” Mycroft got up from the table and left the dining room. 

“Thank you, Mr. Holmes.” John grinned and cast a glance at Sherlock who was eating with more enthusiasm.

^.~

When Sherlock was twenty two his parents became concerned about him. Usually an Omega went into their first heat within a few months of their twentieth birthday. Sherlock was delayed. A specialist was called in to check his organs.

“I hope I’m actually a Beta.” Sherlock told John one night as they lay together. Often Sherlock went to John’s room to talk or sleep. John was his only friend and companion. They were encouraged to have a relationship that went beyond their future mating bond. 

John sat up a bit. “That’s a horrible thing to say!”

Sherlock shook his head. “No, it’s not. I want to continue college… maybe get a job. Then we could move away from here and not have to worry about my family’s expectations for future children…”

“Sherlock…” John sighed and took his friend’s hand. “I’m an Alpha. I’m a bought Alpha. I won’t be allowed to stay with you if you’re a Beta. They’ll send my somewhere to some distant cousin Omega who needs an Alpha mate. They’ve invested too much in me to just let me go.”

Sherlock sat up. “No! They can’t send you away! You’re mine! They told me that you were mine.” 

“Betas and Alphas can’t be together. Alphas are too rare to waste on sterile Betas.” Shaking with emotion John lay down again. “I want you to be Omega… my Omega. I’ll take care of you and protect you.” 

Sherlock nuzzled John’s neck and for a time they played at mating without actual penetration because Sherlock’s body wouldn’t be ready until after his first heat. His body’s lubrications weren’t ready and a full grown Alpha like John with his size and knot could damage him. Instead his body rubbed against John’s, liking the skin to skin contact and the spike of John’s pheromones. Sherlock’s penis was much smaller, more like a Beta male. And there was a knot like John’s which differentiated him from being a Beta male visibly. Internally an Omega male also had a vagina, womb and ovaries. It was the presence of those organs that diagnosed him as being an Omega. Rich families paid a lot of money to specialists to find out their children’s genders. Sherlock had been examined at the tender age of five and again the previous day. So far the specialist had not reported his findings.

“I’m close…” John whispered huskily into Sherlock’s ear.

“I’m sorry I can’t give you more…” Sherlock replied, tightening his thighs around John’s dick. His hand tightened on the knot, squeezing it with as much force as he could apply.

“S’alright!” John whimpered as he began to buck against the stimulation Sherlock provided. “Oh God! Oh fuck… Sherlock… You feel…” But John never finished that sentence. Instead he spurted, warm and wet between Sherlock’s upper thighs. 

Sherlock smiled and raised his hand to his face, smelling his Alpha’s scent. With an evil grin he licked the essence away. 

“Mmm… my naughty little Omega!” John chuckled and crawled down Sherlock’s body to clean his thighs with his tongue.

“Little?” Sherlock chuckled. For a moment he was lost for words as his Alpha took his dick in his mouth. “I’m taller than you are.” It didn’t take very long for his body to orgasm. His hand rested on John’s head as his Alpha resumed cleaning him. A nose nuzzled under Sherlock’s smaller scrotum, taking in his scent. “What are you doing down there?”

“I’m communing with your body.” John replied with a chuckle. “I’m asking it to grow deep and strong so that you may bond with me… and that we may have many viable babies together.”

“Can you imagine me pregnant?” Sherlock laughed, allowing his John to nibble and inspect at his own leisure, just trying to keep his legs out of the way. It was a strange Alpha display to inspect and clean their mate’s most intimate crevices, checking for evidence of other Alphas after sex as Mycroft once told him. 

“Yes, I can.” John replied, his face coming to rest on Sherlock’s pelvis. Lightly his fingers traced over Sherlock’s belly. “Sherlock… You’re my best friend. I don’t want you to feel like a slave to your biology. I understand your wish for a career. I know you’re a very talented chemist.”

“My family will expect us to have children, though…” Sherlock mused as he ran his fingers through John’s hair.

“If you could pick any career… what would it be?”

“Well… you know how much I like deductions… maybe using something with that?”

“Like a private investigator?” John asked, raising his chin to smile up at Sherlock.

“Perhaps…” Sherlock replied. “But it’s not an Omega’s place to have a career.”

“We’ll find a way to balance work and family. I want you to be happy.” 

“For what it’s worth… If I have to be an Omega then I’m glad you’re my Alpha.”

“That means a lot to me.” John crawled up the bed to kiss Sherlock’s lips. 

^.~

Sherlock was twenty four when his first heat came. His mother and the Beta attendants and servants whisked Sherlock away to the small cottage behind the main house to await his bonding. They fed him and bathed him. He was given an injection to prevent pregnancy his first heat cycle. There was time enough for breeding after the Alpha and Omega were bonded. The first cycle was time for ceremony. After Sherlock was placed in the bonding cottage the vicar and guests were called. Only after their arrival was John informed of Sherlock’s state.

But John wasn’t told. A servant arrived in his room with a silk robe and he was asked to change. After he was redressed a towel that had been used to prepare Sherlock had been presented to a rather confused John. Sherlock’s scent on the towel lit up John’s primal Alpha instincts. Lifting his nose and with his mouth open to test the faint pheromone trail he instinctually went in search of his mate. It didn’t take him long to leave the house and make his way through the back garden where all the guests were assembled. As he stalked the vicar began the short bonding ceremony, blessing it in sight of the assembled witnesses.

John’s primal needs completely ignored the Betas and he didn’t care that his robe was half open, revealing his large leaking phallus to the crowd. The crowd tittered with prudish delight at the display of the stud that had been procured to take part in the deflowering of their related Omega. In some circles the stalking of the Alpha was called “Stud Viewing,” especially when said Alpha came from a lower born family. 

John found the cottage and the door opened as if the one inside was anticipating his arrival. Sherlock wore a matching silk robe. Leaning into John, Sherlock took a submissive pose, his head bowed, presenting his neck. The Alpha bit hard, causing the Omega to cry out but still he kept the submissive pose, accepting the Alpha as his mate. The attending Omega, Sherlock’s mother, gently led the two into the cottage and to the waiting bed before leaving and shutting the door behind her. There was to be much feasting while the newly mated couple carried on, completely unaware of the festivities in their honor.

John pushed Sherlock onto the bed, his hands fumbling with the knot of the robe. “You smell… so good.”

Sherlock smiled and gently pushed John’s hands away so he could undo his own robe, pushing it down his shoulders. “So do you. I’ve never smelled you like this before.” Tossing the robe on the floor he rolled over onto his hands and knees. “I need you.”

John’s own robe wasn’t closed but he still lacked the patience to remove it. His body was rather intent on the Omega presented before him. “Oh Sherlock…” Leaning down he buried his nose into the orifice that secreted such delightful scents. 

“No Alpha but you has touched me... you know that. No Alpha attended to me since I came into heat.” Sherlock whimpered, trying to push his aching hole against John’s face. “You’re the only one. Please, John.”

John licked, tasting Sherlock’s opening. The scent and flavor drove him wild with need, his dick growing bigger. “Mine… Mine…”

“Yes.” Sherlock breathed, pressing back against his Alpha, trying to get him to mount. “Claim me.”

But John’s attention was on Sherlock’s scent, his fingers beginning to explore the wet crevice along with his tongue.

Sherlock sobbed, needing more than gentle probing and a delicate tongue. “John! Please! Or I’ll offer myself to anyone who wants me!”

With a growl John got up behind Sherlock, making a quick stab forward. “You will not!”

Sherlock cried out at their first joining and pushed back, needing more. “I will… I will get on my hands and knees and present myself to anyone who will take me hard and fast!”

“You won’t!” John replied back, his thrusts powerful and deep. 

Sherlock’s brain turned to mush and he forgot what sorts of things to say to incite the possessiveness of his Alpha. “I will… um… Oh god! Yeah! They can take me one after the other!”

John growled and strained, pushing his knot into Sherlock. “You can’t! My knot…”

“Your knot is too small… it will slide out! Another Alpha will claim me!”

“My knot is tight!” John replied, unable to pull out. “Mine!” With another bite to the back of the neck John’s first orgasm hit.

Something within Sherlock reacted to the sensation of the knot and the heated emissions, sparking his own orgasm. They fell together in a heated lump on the bed as John continued to leak. “That was… that was well worth the wait.”

Three days later both emerged from the cottage somewhat malnourished and dehydrated. The family met them as they made their way back into the house and they were greeted with congratulations and a dinner in their honor since they missed their own bonding reception. Sitting side by side at the family table they were both addressed as “Mr. Holmes.” 

^.~

John Watson-Holmes returned home to the flat he shared with his bondmate, Sherlock. “How was your day?” John asked as he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Sherlock’s head. 

“It went well. I solved three mysteries before lunch.” Sherlock replied. “How was work?”

“Good. It was good. I didn’t end a plague or save a dying boy but several of my patients had nasty chest colds.”

“You can’t save the world…” Sherlock mused as he returned to his computer.

“Yeah? But I can try.” John replied.

Sherlock’s foot lightly kicked John’s under the table. “My big Alpha mate wants to save every Beta and Omega he comes across…”

“Shut up!” John replied, kicking back. “So… tell me about your clients.”

^.~

Several people looked out from their rooms, eyeing the yard and Sherlock warily. John stood protectively near his mate of three years. The number of Alphas in the place put him on edge. 

“So… this is an Alpha stud farm…” Lestrade, a Beta DI Inspector stated. Turning, he looked around at the Alphas who kept their distance. “I’ve only heard rumors that places like these existed…”

John nodded. “Yeah? Well count yourself lucky.” Keeping close to Sherlock he escorted his mate down the hall.

“You’re not… from one of these places? John?”

John stopped to regard his friend and colleague. “No… Sherlock’s family bought me from my parents before I would have been sent to a place like this.”

“I’m sorry, mate…” Lestrade breathed. “The body is down this hallway…” Leading the two down a dim hallway, he tried not to react too much to the conditions the Alphas were in. There was a job to do and it would do no one any good if he was hysterical.

Sherlock squatted down to get a better look at the body. A few Alphas inched closer, conditioned to show interest in the Omega. John gave them all threatening looks before taking a position beside his mate. “What do you see?”

“Male Alpha… killed during sex with an Omega. His penis removed… his rectum used by another Alpha…” Sherlock sat back on his heels, shivering. “This place is…”

“I’m here… Lestrade is here. Focus, please… Sherlock?” John lightly touched Sherlock’s thigh.

“I can smell their mating, John. The Omega that was with this Alpha when he was attacked… the Alpha that used him… So much…” 

Sherlock’s eyes were focused down the hallway, fixed on a blond Alpha. Shivering he shook his head. “It could have been you…”

“What? Sherlock? What’s wrong?”

“Sherlock?” Lestrade queried, leaning into his friends’ space. “What is it? Who killed him?”

“It’s this place!” Sherlock stood suddenly, turning around to take in the whole setting. “People are BRED here! Like animals! You treat people like animals and they will act like animals!” 

John stood up and wrapped his arms around his bondmate. “It’s ok, Sherlock. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

“It could have been you, John! And your life wasn’t any better! You were bought for me!”

John hugged his mate closer, whispering words of comfort. “I’ve got you.”

Lestrade stood, arms crossed over his chest as he witnessed Sherlock’s normally stoic control breaking down. “This is no way to live… The situation is…”

“Omegas need Alphas.” John replied quietly. “Alphas are greatly outnumbered. Omegas need to be physically serviced in order to be impregnated. What are we supposed to do if we want the human species to continue?”

“Not this… Look at them, John. I told you I’ve never met an Alpha before I met you. I wasn’t lying. This is where they all are… all but those in private reserve by rich families so they can have some semblance of the old ways before most of the population became sterile.”

John sighed and held Sherlock tightly, grateful he would only ever have to service one Omega.

“It was the owner…” Sherlock whispered.

“What?” John asked.

“Our suspect… it’s the owner of this farm. He’s an Alpha. It was a punishment… the victim was to be made an example of so all the rest would comply with his harsh treatment.”

“You’re brilliant!” Lestrade grinned and headed off to have the owner placed under arrest.

“Come on… let’s go home.” John led Sherlock past the rooms occupied by so many Alphas.

They walked out towards where the police cars and Scotland Yard milled around. 

“John?” 

 

“Hmm?”

“Do you regret being bought by my family?”

“I’ve told you that you’re my best friend… why would I regret that?”

“Because of what you are… what you’re forced to be. It was either ownership or… or a place like this.”

John reached out and took Sherlock’s hand in his own. “Sherlock… I think… that if we had both been born Betas that we probably would have been very happy together. Granted I wouldn’t have been able to go to med school but who knows… there are ways for poor guys like me to get an education… maybe the military.”

“I still would have been from a wealthy family…”

“Yeah… but you would have been free to study for as long as you wanted. Then… maybe we would have met somewhere… maybe a bar…”

“Or a hospital research lab?” Sherlock smiled.

“And one thing would have led to another… and I would have fallen for you.”

“I may have played hard to get. Without wild hormones who knows what I would have done…”

“Even though we couldn’t have children… I would still want to be with you and share your life with you.”

“So you’re saying that you don’t regret your life?” Sherlock stopped and forced John to face him.

John leaned in and kissed his mate. “I would still want to be with you. Whether it be just one heat cycle like those poor bastards at the farm get… or without children if we were Betas. But as it is… I get to be Mr. John Watson-Holmes and father all of your children… be they Omega, Alpha or Beta… they are all a bit of you and I… I think the world is better for it.”

Sherlock smiled fondly at his mate and friend. “Well… with a 4.3 Alpha… there is a very low probability that you will ever sire any Betas.”

“4.6 Alpha. I’ve been retested.” 

“It’s all the sex I’ve been giving you.” Sherlock grinned and kissed his mate. 

“Maybe someday there will be enough Alphas for all Omegas.” They stood together for several more minutes, John wrapped around Sherlock as if to reassure himself that the other Alphas didn’t affect his Omega’s smell. “There really needs to be more… you know. If my instincts are anything to go by… Each Omega needs an Alpha to protect them and feel possessive about.”

“Feeling possessive, Dr. Watson-Holmes?” Sherlock teased.

“It’s the pheromones in that farm… I just want to throw you down on the ground and mount you right here.”

Sherlock glanced around at all the milling police officers. “I’m sure they’d enjoy THAT!”

“Let’s make a baby!” John nibbled on Sherlock’s neck.

“My last heat was two months ago. I’m not due for another four months at least!” Sherlock protested.

“We can practice…” John replied rubbing up against his mate. 

“That’s not necessary…” Sherlock whispered, leaning against John’s solid frame. “I think I’m pregnant…”

John froze, his face still smothered against Sherlock’s neck. His nose took in Sherlock’s scent, searching for a change. There was a faint trace… the scent that had been bothering him since they were in the farm. Had it been there before and he just didn’t notice it until he became aware of the other Alphas leering at his mate?

“John? Did you hear me?” Sherlock breathed.

“I heard you.” John replied. Slowly he pulled away and looked into Sherlock’s pale grey eyes. “Let’s go home.”

Sherlock nodded and procured a cabbie. Their ride home was in silence, both looking out their separate windows. At Baker Street they paid the cabbie and alighted to their flat. With a locked door between them and the outside world John smiled at his mate. “How long have you known?”

“I don’t… I just feel… different.” Sherlock replied, sitting in his chair. “I’m slightly bloated all the time… and hungry.”

“We’ll get you tested… and then some nutritional supplements… a nursery. We’ll need a nursery…”

“You’re not disappointed?” Sherlock asked cautiously. “We weren’t planning for this to happen for a couple more years…”

“I’m elated!” John knelt before Sherlock, touching his belly. “It will take a little re-arrangement of our lives but… but I love you.”

Sherlock brightened and seemed to glow a bit at John’s words. Leaning forward he kissed his mate. “Your mine.”

“Yes.” John agreed, kissing back. “I’m yours.”

Fin


End file.
